In hospitals, clinics and similar institutions, contamination is of utmost concern. Disposable, single use patient-care products, which used to be the exception, are now the norm. Such hospital waste products might include surgical sharps, such as needles, syringes, scalpel blades, or the like, or might include gauzes, bandages, or sponges.
Various types of containers for hospital use have been developed for receiving medical waste in a surgical operating room, pre-op or post-op room, or a patient's room. These containers are particularly designed to protect the user of such containers, such as doctors, nurses, or other hospital personnel, from the hospital waste products that may be disposed therein.
The proximal disposal of sharps in patient rooms has spawned a host of specialized sharps disposal containers. These containers are primarily designed to allow for the easy disposal of sharps in a manner that does not require excess effort, exposure to the sharp portion of a device and in which the disposed of sharp cannot be subsequently accessed. In most instances, the disposal system consists of a non-disposable cabinet or support that is more or less permanently affixed to a room surface (usually affixed to the wall with some type of anchor) and a disposable container that fits within or is attached to the cabinet or support. Typically, the disposable container utilizes some type of door that prevents unobstructed access to the interior of the container, but allows relatively easy disposal of the sharp.
It is important to prevent the user of a sharps container from being accidentally cut or punctured by its contents. Furthermore, it is important to prevent access to the contents of the container during disposal thereof.
Sharps containers have commonly been provided with a relatively large circular opening through which sharps may be dropped in a vertical orientation for haphazard collection within the container. As the container fills, the user runs the risk of a previously inserted sharp protruding from the opening where it can stab the hand of the next operator inserting something into the container. Side walls may be constructed of relatively soft or thin-walled material which could be pierced by any one of the haphazardly arranged needles within the container thereby possibly exposing to infectious disease the next person brushing against the container. Other known sharps containers have a mailbox-like structure having a tilt pan which tips outwardly for receiving a sharp and which tips inwardly for depositing the sharp in the container. In this manner, the interior of the container is never completely open to the room and the sharp can be disposed of with one simple motion.
However, previous designs have been subject to jamming, improper function and manufacturing difficulties. For example, previous designs included lids with multiple distinct parts. In some examples, these parts may be ultrasonically welded together. This creates extra manufacturing steps as well as unnecessarily using more plastic.